Harry Potter and the Legacy of Voldemort
by RemusFawkes
Summary: The Dark Lord never intended to kill Harry. Instead he used the attack on the Potter family to make himself disappear so he can raise the promising boy in secret. Now the time has come for Voldemorts Legacy to step out of the shadows and attend Hogwarts where he will encounter a certain muggle-born bookworm.
1. Prologue

**Harry Potter and the Legacy of Voldemort**

Disclaimer: I don't own the world of Harry Potter or any of these characters. I am simply a huge fan and not making any money with this writing. Should there be similarities to other fanfictions it is definitely not on purpose. With the amount of fanfics already created basically everything had been tried out at least once. Please enjoy the first chapter of my story.

 **Prologue**

It was a cold November night in the British town Little Hangleton. All residents were sleeping peacefully in their houses, the streets lay empty and silent in the darkness. But as always evil tends to strike when you least expect it. This night was no exception.

Nobody saw the small hooded man moving around at the local graveyard. Nobody was there to take any notice of a gigantic cauldron filled up with some strange liquid being placed in front of a certain gravestone. Everything was planned out precisely for the secret performance of an old dark ritual that would bring back the most feared wizard there has ever been. The hooded man went behind a nearby grave, picked up a cloak bundle from the ground that he had carefully placed there before and carried it slowly towards the cauldron. "Hurry up" hissed a faint voice out of the bundle. The man accelerated his footsteps. He then stopped in front of the cauldron and started to unwrap the cloak.

If anyone would have been there to follow the events, they definitely would have screamed out in shock as an ugly slimy being was revealed from inside the bundle. It had distant analogy to a small human child but appeared to be scaled with dark sheds. Arms and legs - if you could even call it that - were skinny and fragile, the horrible face snake-like with gleaming red eyes.

The hooded man didn't show any sign of shock or fear. He obviously knew what he had carried around with himself. Simply continuing his mission he quickly dropped the strange being right into the fizzing cauldron. Soon it would regain back his human body. Only three more special ingredients were missing. Pulling a wand out of his own cloak the man, apparently a wizard, casted some sort of spell at the grave in front of him. The inscriptions on the gravestone identified said grave as the last resting place of the muggle Tom Riddle.

"Bone of the father, unknowingly given, your will renew your son."

The marble grave slab suddenly cracked open. A small whirl of dust floated out of Tom Riddles grave and quickly into the prepared cauldron. The liquid immediately took on a vivid blue colour. Only two more ingredients and the ritual would be complete. The still hooded man suddenly started to shake. With nervous movements he exchanged the wand for a wicked looking knife. Slowly he stretched out his free right hand over the cauldron - said hand was already missing one finger for some reason.

"Flesh of the servant, willingly given, your will revive your master."

The man brought the knife down with a swift and powerful swing of his left hand. Even though he did it on his own accord, he was not able to suppress the pained scream as the other hand was chopped off clean from his arm and fell right into the cauldron. This time the liquid changed colour to a burning red. Panting heavily the man let the knife simply fall to the ground as he tried his best to ignore the intense pain flooding through his body. Only one more step was necessary, one more ingredient, then his job would be finally done. With his remaining left hand he reached inside his cloak for one last time to pull out a corked vial filled with the required blood. Time to complete the ritual.

"Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken, your will resurrect your foe."

Uncorking the vial with his teeth the man quickly poured all the blood inside the cauldron before giving in and sinking to the ground whimpering. The liquids colour changed for the third time, it was now a clear white. For one moment there was silence on the graveyard. Nothing happened, except for the shudders of the hurt man who tried to hide away the bleeding right arm stump under his cloak and body while trying to suppress his tears. Then with a sudden detonation the cauldron dissolved into flames, setting free the ugly being that was dropped in before, only to show that it had by now transformed into a fully grown dark wizard.

Lord Voldemort had returned.

"My cloak, Wormtail" he commanded immediately with a freezing voice. The whimpering man next to him quickly stumbled back to his feet and handed his master the demanded piece of black clothing. The arm stump was still pressed up against his body and heavily bleeding.

"My wand, Wormtail" requested Voldemort sharply and his servant was again eager to comply. As his long white fingers grasped the powerful yew wand the Dark Lord was instantly infused with the familiar feeling of domination and superiority he had missed so much during the time he didn't had his real body. A satisfied smile spread over his snake-like face.

"Your arm, Wormtail" he commanded for the third time. "Thank u my Lord, thank u so much." Happiness flooded the servant as he painfully lifted his bleeding arm stump towards his master. Voldemort only spared him a contemptuous glance before performing the first magic with his wand. The arm stump swiftly stopped bleeding and in a matter of seconds the flesh consolidated the chopped off area.

While this was way better than before Wormtail was not really that excited about it. Voldemort had promised him a proper replacement of the lost hand. He had hoped for something better. In one of his rare displays of courage Wormtail dared to remember his Lord of this fact in a still shaky voice. "But my Lord, u promised me…" he began only to be cut off harshly by his master. "I know what I have promised. Don't question my word, Wormtail. You should know exactly what happens to the ones that are stupid enough to do so." That sent chills down the servants spine and he threw himself onto the ground on instinct, kissing the hem of Voldemorts cloak. "Please forgive me my Lord… Of course you are right… I would never doubt a single word of you…"

"That's enough" hissed Voldemort coldly. "Stand up and listen closely." His servant shot strait up, eager to show his loyalty even more. "You have proven yourself surprisingly useful in these last days Wormtail" the Dark Lord began. "You can be sure to be rewarded appropriately when the time has come. But for now I have to stay hidden. For my plans to succeed it is important that nobody knows of my swift return to strength. Nobody, Wormtail, not even you."

"But my Lord…" His reply was cut short as Voldemort paralyzed his servant with a simple swing of his wand. "I really regret that I am forced to do this Wormtail" whispered the Dark Lord but his voice didn't held any form of sympathy, obviously this was just empty rhetoric. He lifted his wand between Wormtails eyes and started manipulating his memories, whipping out any clue that he had performed this ritual or even knew what said ritual was. While he changed his servants mind Voldemort remembered the fateful night himself, the Halloween night when he was finally able to put his amazing plan into motion.

 _ **Flashback Start**_

" _Not Harry, please no… Take me, kill me instead…"  
"Stand aside you silly girl… Stand aside now…"_

 _The Dark Lord looked at the begging Lily Potter who had thrown herself between him and her son Harry. Everything went according to his plan. He knew he could not kill Lily right away, it was important that she got the chance to sacrifice herself for her baby. This was the only way to activate the ancient blood protection which would then allow the boy to survive the killing curse. At least in theory._

" _Not Harry… Please… Have mercy… Have mercy…"  
"This is my last warning! Stand aside now!"_

 _This should be more than enough for the blood protection to work. It was time for the kill. He just couldn´t screw this up now, he planned out his own disappearance for far too long. The prophecy about the boy who would somehow possess the power to defeat him was an absolute golden opportunity. He could finally fake his own downfall and then raise the boy himself. Only a few more steps were needed, including two unforgivable curses._

"Avada Kedavra!"

 _Blinding green light filled the room as Lily Potter dropped dead on the stop. Voldemort wasted no time and cut her left arm open with simple wordless magic. He conjured a small vial out of thin air and quickly filled it with some of Lily's blood before shutting the wound with another swing of his wand._

 _Other people who would look at her corpse would never find any trace of the cut or that he had taken a sample of her blood. Not that anyone would be suspicious either way. He was the only one who knew the ingredients for that special ritual after all._

 _Sealing up the vial and charming it to be indestructible the Dark Lord turned around just in time to see a rat at the doorsteps transforming into his loyal servant. He levitated the vial towards the expected newcomer._

" _Take good care of this vial, Wormtail" Voldemort hissed over his left shoulder while his eyes now focused onto the baby boy in front of him. "As soon as my current body gets destroyed, it is your job to take my wand and cloak with you and disappear from this place. You will wait for me at the graveyard of Little Hangleton in exactly two weeks from now. I can´t perform the ancient ritual on my own."_

" _But my Lord, are you sure that there is no other way?" Wormtail asked fearfully. "My decision stands, I only have this one chance. The ritual will make me stronger than ever before, but in order for it to work properly, I first have to get rid of my actual body. Using the blood protection of the Potters against them is allowing me this extraordinary feat. Don't forget that you made a vow on your magic to tell nobody about these events. I planned everything out perfectly so don't disappoint me. You know the consequences."_

" _Of course my Lord, I will exactly follow your orders" Wormtail replied hastily. A cruel smile spread across Voldemorts face as he lifted his wand to put the next step of his plan into motion. Hopefully everything worked out as theory claimed. The boy should soon be famous for being the first person to ever survive the killing curse. Otherwise his whole plan would fail. And it was an unwritten law that a plan made by Lord Voldemort never failed. Any exceptions were not allowed to exist._

"Avada Kedavra!"

 _ **Flashback End**_

Voldemort smiled confidently as he finished planting false memories into Wormtails mind. The ritual actually didn't made him any stronger at all, its sole purpose was to restore his body and magic, it was all a lie just to ensure Wormtails compliance, a very successful lie as it turned out.

His plan had worked out perfectly up till now. The whole wizarding society would believe him to be gone, nobody would ever think of him being already back at full power only one week after his supposed downfall. Voldemort wanted it to stay like this for many years to come. He had many new experiments that he could now try out in total secrecy, as well as achieving his main goal, to raise a successor who would become his key to victory in the future.

After double checking the graveyard to make absolutely sure that there was no trace of his rebirth left Voldemort finally disapparated to his personal hideout. It would take some more minutes for Wormtail to regain his consciousness, after that he would blame himself to be responsible for the downfall of his Lord and quickly go into hiding using his rat form. It didn't really matter where he would hide away, all memories concerning the ritual were whipped out of his mind after all.

Voldemort had to focus on more important matters. He had to get his hands on the boy who was marked as his equal. That boy was the perfect successor. That boy would become his legacy.

The Dark Lord left the graveyard with one single name on his mind - Harry Potter!

 **A/N: Thanks for reading. This is my first serious attempt of creating a fanfiction so I am grateful for every feedback that I get for this and every other upcoming chapter. Also English is not my native language so I want to apologize for possible grammar or spelling mistakes you might have found. I am trying my best, but I am not a wizard as my Hogwarts letter has never arrived.**


	2. The Dark Prince

**Harry Potter and the Legacy of Voldemort**

Disclaimer: I don't own the world of Harry Potter or any of these characters. I am simply a huge fan and not making any money with this writing. Should there be similarities to other fanfictions it is definitely not on purpose. With the amount of fanfics already created basically everything had been tried out at least once. Please enjoy the next chapter of my story.

 **The Dark Prince**

Albus Dumbledore sighted as stared at the untouched envelopment of the letter on his desk. This had been his last hope of finding the boy-who-lived. But just like every other attempt over the last decade it had failed brilliantly. Was Harry possibly dead by now? No, it couldn't be. The last heir of the Potter family had to be out there somewhere.

Dumbledore really didn't want to imagine how the wizarding world would react if word got out that Harry Potter was not attending Hogwarts in the upcoming year. It had been enough trouble to cover up his sudden disappearance with a fake story about Harry being raised heavily protected under the Fidelius Charm. But by now Albus Dumbledore had a strong feeling that this sorry excuse wasn't that far away from the actual truth.

It was the first time during his long tenure as Headmaster that the Hogwarts letter could not be delivered to one of the students. Only the Fidelius Charm in combination with other powerful protection wards were capable of achieving this feat. Whoever had kidnapped Harry from his relatives made sure that there was no way to reach him. That was the only possible explanation. Dumbledore sighted again. What had he done wrong? Where were the holes in his plan? How could all this ever happened?

The address of the letter on his desk showed off his desperation. _Mr. Harry Potter, unknown location, somewhere around the world_ was written there in green ink. For the umpteenth time the Hogwarts Headmaster recalled the past events trying to figure out what he could have done differently.

It all started with the prophecy made by Sybill Trelawney all these years ago. The child with the power to defeat the Dark Lord would be born at the end of July, born to a couple that had managed to defy him three times. Severus, at that time still working as a spy for Voldemort, was able to eavesdrop on that part of the prophecy and quickly delivered this important information to his master.

While there were actually two possible children born under these circumstances, Voldemort was somehow convinced that the prophecy referred to the son of James and Lily Potter and therefore started to hunt them down. Dumbledore and his Order of the Phoenix helped them to remain alive and hidden for over a year but everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before Voldemort would finally be able to get his hands onto the young family. After all he was the most powerful dark wizard to ever exist for a reason.

In the end the Potters decided to hide under the Fidelius Charm. Dumbledore himself performed this extremely difficult protection magic. As a result the family was now save from any attacks as only their chosen secret keeper could give away their current location. Nobody else would ever be able find them in Gordic's Hollow, not even the mighty Lord Voldemort.

But it soon turned out that the Potters had put their trust into the wrong wizard. Secret Keeper Sirius Black was in reality just another spy of the Dark Lord. The defense of the Fidelius Charm was therefore useless. Voldemort killed James and Lily only two days later, at Halloween.

But their one year old son Harry miraculously survived that night. Even more so, he somehow managed to destroy the Dark Lord who attempted to kill him. Of course Dumbledore knew that Voldemort wasn´t really dead as most of the wizarding society believed, but it was obvious that he had at least lost his power back in that fateful night.

Harry Potter was instantly hailed as the boy-who-lived, defeater of Lord Voldemort. Famous for something he couldn´t understand or even remember correctly. Sirius Black, who was not only Secret Keeper but also godfather of the boy, was quickly imprisoned at Azkaban as a traitor. That left Dumbledore in charge of the decision where and how Harry should be raised.

The Headmaster had a theory about how the boy survived Voldemorts killing curse right from the start – blood protection. Lily must have sacrificed herself in order to protect her son. Therefore the safest place for Harry was with his aunt Petunia Dursley. She shared the same blood as her sister Lily which would keep up the magical protection to ensure Harry could not be hurt by Lord Voldemort or his followers as long as he stayed with his relatives.

Furthermore the Dursleys were muggles and hated pretty much anything that could be classified as paranormal. This would help to let Harry grow up without him having to deal with all the fame and myths magical Britain already associated with his name. He would live a normal childhood, safe and sound at his relatives, and only find out about magic when it was time for his Hogwarts letter to arrive. At least that was Dumbledores formidable plan.

At first everything looked fine. He simply left little Harry at the doorsteps of the Dursleys´ house with a letter explaining everything they needed to know. While not happy about it, his relatives accepted Harry in their house which was all they really had to do. Setting up various monitoring charms in order to check that Harry really stayed with them over the upcoming years and grew up as Dumbledore had planned it out was also an incredible easy task. Easy and basically useless. Whoever had kidnapped Harry knew about the charms and was skilled enough to fool them. And there were not many people alive with the necessary knowledge and power to fool wards made by Albus Dumbledore himself.

The Headmaster discovered the mysterious disappearance of Harry Potter randomly during the next Christmas holidays. He originally wanted to give the Dursleys some gifts as a thank-you for their decision to take care of the boy and provide them with more information about the current situation after Voldemorts downfall.

Instead he arrived in Little Whining to find out that Harry had somehow gone missing two weeks ago. To say the great Albus Dumbledore was totally shocked by this news would have been one of the biggest understatements of the century. The blood protection, the monitoring charms, the brilliant plans for the future – everything had been shattered without him even realizing it. The only piece of useful information the Dursleys had for the furious Headmaster was that they all went to sleep one night only to discover during the next morning that their nephew had vanished without a single trace.

Dumbledore knew that only a really powerful wizard would be able to pull off such a kidnapping. His very first guess was Gellert Grindelwald, so he quickly confirmed personally that he was still imprisoned in Nurmengrad. Next he paid a visit to his old friend Nicolas Flamel even though he already knew that Nicolas would never commit such a crime. Over the next year Dumbledore double-checked every possible wizard and witch who could have been responsible for Harry's disappearance only to come up empty handed in the end.

The boy who lived had completely vanished from the face of the earth. The new school term was only little more than a month away. And after taking one last glace at the lost letter on his desk Albus Dumbledore finally lost what little hope he had left that Harry Potter would somehow magically appear to attend his first year at Hogwarts.

0 – 0 – 0

Voldemort calmly walked down the stone staircase of his secret hideout. It had been a long time since he was feeling this excited. The upcoming days would decide if all his efforts would finally bear the first fruits. Nearly a whole decade has passed since he had put his amazing plan into motion and disappeared from the face of the world. He had spent most of the time here in this wonderful cave experimenting over and over again to expand the boundaries of magic as well as raising his chosen successor.

While he had no intentions of ever dying – he had took more than enough measures to ensure this event simply couldn't happen to him – Voldemort desperately needed a successor. He realized just in time that his first approach of taking over the magical world was deemed to failure. Ruling a country by using force and fear could work for a short period, but in the long run it was impossible to unite the magical society and lead them into a new era with only these measures, impossible even for his own unrivaled magical abilities and that was saying something.

While trying to overthrow this weak excuse of a ministry of magic the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters wasted way too much magical blood. This was without a doubt not what his ancestor Salazar Slytherin had dreamed of. When that realization hit him, Voldemort had spent countless hours thinking about how he could change his approach. The wizarding society seemed afraid of changes, they were obviously fine with their current way of living. As long as there was faith into the government he could never establish a new system that was supported by the majority of the people. So someone famous and powerful had to convince the society that these changes were necessary. A task that neither Lord Voldemort himself, branded as the most evil wizard ever, or any of his followers could archive.

Then it had hit him. What he needed was a successor, someone who he could mold into his personal weapon, someone who he could guide from the shadows, someone who was able to show the wizarding society how pathetic their current government actually was. But where to find a suitable candidate? Well, destiny seemed to be on his side for once as an absolute golden opportunity suddenly presented himself to the Dark Lord.

As soon as Severus Snape informed him of the prophecy, Voldemort knew that he couldn't let this chance pass. Harry Potter was the perfect successor. By playing the cards correct he could make himself disappear, turn Harry into a national hero and then raise the boy in secret so he could later on influence the magical society. It was the perfect plan. With Harrys help Voldemort would finally be able to lead the world into a new era.

Coming back from his little memory trip the Dark Lord took the last few steps and reached the room he was looking for. Opening a plain black door on his left side he set his eyes on a certain black haired boy sitting on a massive table reading "Hogwarts – A History". He smiled as he remembered how he kidnapped him as a baby all these years ago. It had not been an easy task. While the relatives who should take care of the famous Harry Potter were most likely the most useless and disgusting muggles the Dark Lord had ever seen, that annoying Albus Dumbledore had set up quite an effective set of wards around their home. It took him almost an entire month to work out where the boy was hidden and how he could get his hands onto him without immediately alerting his old transfiguration teacher. He had to take his time in planning the ambush as it was vitally necessary to not leave a single trace. Of course Dumbledore had found out about Harry's disappearance soon afterwards, but at that time the last Potter heir was already lying in his new crib here in this undetectable hideout wearing a Slytherin romper suit. From this day on the boy who lived grew up under Voldemorts wing just as planned and showed outstanding potential in all magical areas. Just like the Dark Lord himself.

"I see that you are currently reading instead of training" Voldemort made himself known. "So I have to assume that you have mastered each single one of the spells we were working on. Otherwise I would have to punish you."

Harry looked up and a bright smile appeared on his face. "I was waiting for you, Dad. Finally I can show you what I am really capable off." He quickly closed the book, jumped up and pulled out his wand. The room was plain and simple. All four walls were covered in book cases while in the middle was a large table filled with lots of small items which a young wizard could use to train basic spells.

"Show me everything" Voldemort demanded calm. Harrys smile grew even wider as he complied immediately and swung his wand confidently. Under normal circumstances he shouldn't even have a wand as his trip to Diagon Ally has yet to come. It was actually a gift to his last birthday when Voldemort finally deemed him ready to perform some real magic. While potion brewing, reading about all the different types of spells and magical creatures as well as Occlumency training was without a doubt useful and sometimes even funny, Harry had yearned for the moment he would receive his very first wand. It was made out of ebony wood – suited for transfiguration and dueling according to the small bits of Wandlore his father had taught him – and held a dragon heartstring core which was supposed to be very powerful but also quite temperamental. The wand was nine inches long and worked fine for him. Harry knew that it was most likely stolen from some unfortunate wizard and by far no perfect matchup for him, but for now it was more than he could have asked for.

" _Wingardium Leviosa!"_

His spell lifted the "Hogwarts – A History" book from the table and let it hover through the air, drawing an imaginary cross followed by a triangle. Harry then let it circle three times around Voldemorts head before he got the small nod he was waiting for and therefore dropped the book back onto the table. They didn't have to worry in the slightest that the use of underage magic was being detected by the ministry. When Voldemort had designed this secret hideout which was actually located inside of a forsaken rocky coast of Wales he had made sure to cover each and every possible connection to the outside world. It was his personal masterpiece, protected better than Gringotts and Hogwarts combined. Here Harry could train his magic as much as he wanted without anyone else ever knowing about it.

Over the next few minutes the young boy performed all the spells that he had mastered till now as a demonstration for his father. Among other things he transfigured several small stones into mirrors, changed the colour of seven maple leaves multiple times before setting them on fire and blasted the created mirrors into pieces only to repair them immediately afterwards back to their original state. Each one of his flawless spells earned him a nod paired up with a very small, almost nonexistent smile from the Dark Lord which encouraged him even more all the way through his little performance. Harry knew that Voldemort only accepted absolute perfection and therefore pushed himself to the limits in each training exercise in order to make his father proud.

He also knew that the Dark Lord technically was only his adoptive father and had killed his biological parents so that he could raise the last Potter heir himself, but it didn't matter to Harry. Voldemort had shown him enough memories of the past to let him realize what blind fools James and Lily actually have been. Fighting for their suspicious, manipulative and not-in-the-slightest trustworthy leader named Albus Dumbledore; fighting against the most powerful wizard to ever walk over the face of this planet simply to avoid changes in the current political system. A system which was more than clearly corrupt and lied people straight into their faces; which classified everything that the politicians couldn't understand or control as being dark and evil; which was stupid enough to let a minor race such as goblins handle the one and only wizarding bank of whole Britain and therefore basically everything that resolved about money. The list could go on and on. Harry could clearly understand why his father had tried to take over the country and fought all these self-proclaimed wizards and witches of the light. History proves that it is necessary to eradicate the old system in order for a better one to take its place. And the people who are unable to adapt have to pay a price for their stubbornness in the end.

"Very well done, Harry" Voldemort praised him after the small demonstration was finally completed. "I think that this is enough for today. You can go and take your rest now. It would be a good idea to read some more in your book before you fall asleep. After all you will turn eleven years old tomorrow which means your first year at Hogwarts is little more than a month away. I want you to be as prepared for your mission as possible."

Harry nodded eagerly. "Thanks Dad, and don't worry, I am more than ready for Hogwarts. This fool of a Headmaster won´t know what hit him." With that he snatched the book from the small table and strut out of the room, a smug grin all over his face.

The wizarding society may knew him as Harry James Potter, the boy who lived. But in reality he was so much more than that. Raised by the Dark Lord himself, fluently speaking Parseltongue at will, always eager to learn something new and of course aiming for perfection in every task that was given to him. He knew the purpose of his life and was striving for it every single day. He was the key to victory. Together with his Dad he would change the wizarding world once and for all.

He was Harry Salazar Gaunt. The Dark Prince.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading. This is my first serious attempt of creating a fanfiction so I am grateful for every feedback that I get for this and every other chapter. I have the basic storyline but not any full pre-written chapters so I will try to make a schedule of updating once per week. The main pairing will be HHr.**


	3. Birthday Presents

**Harry Potter and the Legacy of Voldemort**

Disclaimer: I don't own the world of Harry Potter or any of these characters. I am simply a huge fan and not making any money with this writing. Should there be similarities to other fanfictions it is definitely not on purpose. With the amount of fanfics already created basically everything had been tried out at least once. Please enjoy the next chapter of my story.

 **Birthday Presents**

Harry awoke early on the next day. The excitement was rocking through his body. Finally he had turned eleven years old and would have his trip to Diagon Alley. He could neither wait for his birthday presents nor to get his perfectly matched wand.

He lifted himself out of the bed and stretched. Just like every day the long female snake Nagini was coiled up right in front of him and watched his every move. Voldemort always sent her to guard him over night even though it was obvious that no unwanted guest would ever manage to invade this hideout. He gave her a quick nod signaling that everything was fine and therefore Nagini slid out of the room to deliver the message that Harry was awake and ready for action.

The birthday boy quickly took a shower, got dressed and put on the round glasses his Dad made him wear all the time. Harry didn't quite get why he had to wear them as his eyesight was totally fine. Something about deception and luring the enemy into a false sense of security by faking bad eyesight. Harry had learned by now that deception was pretty much the most important part in every successful plan so he would not question it. His father was the Dark Lord after all and therefore knew exactly what was necessary.

Taking the staircase down to the living room Harry noticed that his breakfast was already waiting for him on the table. His Dad was missing just like every morning, most likely finishing up one of the many experiments in his personal chambers. Harry was used to this procedure by now. They never had breakfast together. Actually it was very rare for Harry to see his Dad eat pretty much anything over the whole day. But he knew better than to question a Dark Lord. His father had a fury temper and you never wanted to be at the receiving end. He had learned this lesson the hard way. And he really had no wish to go through that experience again.

So Harry simply enjoyed his breakfast while waiting for his father to arrive. He didn't had to wait for long. Only seconds after he was finished the door to his right side opened without any sound. Voldemort took one quick glance across the room and banished the now unnecessary dishes before taking his seat on the opposite side of the now empty table. His face was expressionless, a good sign usually. Harry waited for him to speak, calm on the outside, full of excitement inside. If the last years were anything to go by, his Dad would have thought of a special surprise for him to make this day unforgettable.

"Happy Birthday, my dear son" Voldemort began with what almost appeared to be a full smile on his face. "Now that you have turned eleven years old, it is only one month left until you will start your time at Hogwarts. I hope you are well prepared for your task. You know very well that I don't accept any failures." Harry nodded confidently. "I won´t disappoint you, Dad. I will bring glory to the house of Slytherin, just like you did all these years ago."

"Don't forget the plan" Voldemort hissed. "While there will be many children of my subordinates attending Hogwarts with you, it is necessary to befriend students of all the four houses. Build up as many connections as possible. Do not judge anyone on their first impression. It is vital for our success that the young generation of wizards and witches is trusting you. Have I made myself clear?"

"Of course Dad" Harry replied quite annoyed. "You lectured me about my purpose at Hogwarts time and time again. I know what I have to do." Voldemort looked pleased of a moment, before he caught Harry whispering to himself. "Even though I still can´t see myself being friends with a Gryffindor, or even worse, a mudblood."

"Harry Salazar Gaunt! You better not question my flawless plans! Do I have to remind you of the fact that your biological mother was in fact a mudblood herself?"

Harry sighted. "Why do you have to bring that topic up again? My biological parents don't matter to me, I am your son and a true Slytherin by heart. You should know best, you raised me that way after all."

While the Dark Lord felt pride and to some extend a really strange and unknown emotion – a normal person might have been able to classify it as happiness and affection – upon hearing the boy say these words, he still had to drive his point home. "Deception is a powerful weapon, Harry. It is important that you win the trust of our enemies so that we can have the element of surprise on our side when the time has finally come to take control over the world. Your biological heritage is a wonderful excuse to temporarily befriend all these mudbloods and Gryffindors. Use every advantage you have at your disposal and don't reveal your true self unless it is absolutely necessary. What I am trying to say with that is you cannot simply walk into Hogwarts and open the chamber of secrets on the very first day."

" _I basically could"_ hissed Harry with a sinister grin in Parseltongue.

" _We both know that, but as it would completely demolish our long term plans you will not do it under any circumstances"_ Voldemort replied with a severe look on his face before switching the language back to English. "Why is it so hard for you to understand that befriending with students of all four houses will only benefit us in the long run?"

"I just don't want to be associated with weaklings or traitors. If memory serves me right you didn't do that during your time at Hogwarts either. So why are you forcing this degrading action upon me? It doesn't make any sense."

The Dark Lord could only shake his head at the words of his son. "It seems I have overestimated that little brain of yours Harry" he began slowly. "You are still too young. You are lacking the required providence. I really was under the impression that I taught you the truth about our world by now. But it appears I was just wasting my time."

"I know the truth" Harry replied hastily. These allegations hurt him more than he wanted to admit. He had to prove immediately that his father was wrong, he wasn't lacking anything at all. He was the Dark Prince after all.

"The splitting between Light and Dark is an illusion. There is no black or white, there is no right or wrong, there is only power and the people who are too weak to strive for it. That is the first truth of this world."

Voldemort gave a short nod. "Go on, there are two more truths left to be told. That is if you can remember them." Provocation had always worked as a suitable method to get the desired reaction from Harry and this time was no exception. He immediately recited the second truth like it was a poem learned by heart.

"Magic doesn't know any limitations. These so-called boundaries of magic are only existing so someone with enough power can shatter them in order to make the impossible possible. This is the second truth of this world."

Voldemort nodded again. "And therefore muggles will always be inferior to wizards as their abilities are limited by the laws of nature. Unlike us they will never be able to overcome certain boundaries. But before I am drifting off, let us continue as there is still one more truth missing." As expected Harry didn't need to be asked twice.

"You can never have enough subordinates. Their race and heritage doesn't matter as long as they are loyally following your orders, so recruit as many as possible. This is the third truth of this world."

"And that is exactly the reason why you will befriend students from every house and even those filthy mudbloods during your stay at Hogwarts. Have I made myself clear enough?" Harry nodded immediately in total seriousness. "Yes Dad, crystal clear. I will fulfill the mission to your upmost satisfaction."

Finally something similar to a pleasant smile slide over Voldemorts face. "I am glad to hear this. Now that we have dealt with this matter successfully, I think it is the right time for your birthday presents." A swing of his wand later a small rectangular mirror with black frame appeared on the desk. Harry swiftly took the object in his hands to examine it carefully.

"Is that really a two-way mirror?" he asked with excitement. Voldemort nodded slightly. "As you can probably guess I am in possession of the other half. If you ever need my advice during your time at Hogwarts just say my name into the mirror and you will be able to talk to me." "Can I safely use it?" Harry inquired slowly. "What if Dumbledore finds out about the mirror?" "Do not worry, just like with this hideout I have made sure that no unwanted guest could ever detect or interfere with the connection. The mirrors are also charmed in a way that they only activate when the owner is speaking in Parseltongue. Therefore even in the unlikely event that someone manages to steal your mirror it cannot be used against us. Nevertheless you have to be very cautious. Never get caught or it could have devastating consequences."

"Understood, I will make sure to be complete alone inside the Room of Requirements before I am going to use it. Anything else?" "Yes, I demand that you are giving me at least one update every month via the mirror. Only that way I can be sure that you are all right. The more I think about it the more I hate the idea of you being so close to Dumbledore. He may be a fool, but nonetheless he is an incredible powerful wizard and his skills in the inconspicuous manipulation of other people are second only to my own." Harry gave a short nod. He knew that underestimating the Headmaster of Hogwarts would be a fatal mistake. And his mission didn't allow any mistakes.

"This will help you in case things get out of hand" Voldemort continued and with another wand swing he summoned a corked glass vial and handed it over to his son. It was filled with a strange liquid that resembled molten gold.

Harry recognized the potion immediately and stared at his father in complete awe. "No way! Felix Felicis! Liquid Luck! You are not joking with me?" "Correct Harry, this is indeed Felix Felicis. I made it specifically for your time at Hogwarts. The vial contains enough potion to grant you twenty full hours of luck. Use it wisely to deal with any critical situation that may arise."

Harry nodded quickly, totally ecstatic of what amazing presents he was getting this year. He had no idea that it was going to get even better.

"I am very pleased with your current progress Harry, so I decided that you earned one more gift. I am pretty sure you will quite enjoy it." Voldemort swung his wand once more and this time a whole broomstick appeared on the table. Harrys mind kicked into overdrive. Counting in his head from three downwards the Dark Lord prepared for the explosion that was coming without question. He reached one at the same time his son found his voice again.

"A Nimbus 2000!" Harry jumped into the air, his eyes bigger than ever. "That's so awesome! Can I try it out? We do have some time to spare, right? Please! Please! Please!"

Voldemort let Harry fidget some more before slowly formulating his reply. "You have one hour and not a second more. Don't forget that we have an appointment with Quirrell to keep. He will take you to Diagon Alley so that you can buy all of the required school stuff." "Quirrell?" Harry looked lost for a few seconds before finally remembering the name. "All right, you are talking about that strange Hogwarts Professor who you put under the Imperius Curse so he would attempt to steal the Philosophers Stone. Why are interested in that artefact anyway? As far as I know we don't need it at all." His green eyes never left the broom. He was now carefully lifting it up from the table so that he could run his hands over the smooth wood.

"Simply another way of deception, Harry. By going after that stone Dumbledore will assume I am desperately seeking after an effective method to restore my strength. He will put all his efforts into protecting it and won´t think of the possibility that I am already back at the peak of my power. You have to look at the bigger picture if you want to win not only meaningless battles, but the whole war."

"All right Dad, I will try to remember it next time, see you later" shouted Harry as he was already sprinting down the stairs towards a certain part of the cave which was specially designed for practicing your flying skills.

Voldemort couldn't help but shake his head. In moments like this he deeply regretted the decision of ever introducing the boy to the world of Quidditch. For some reason Harry seemed basically obsessed with flying. He could only hope that this won´t come back to bite him in the future.

0 – 0 – 0

An eleven year old girl was sitting on her desk, deeply devolved into a book about magic. She had bushy brown hair, big brown eyes and pretty large front tooth. Since the young girl had been informed that she was indeed a witch and would be allowed to attend the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at the beginning of September she tried her best to prepare. Her parents were both working as dentists and had no clue about the existence of magic up till then which made the discovery of her being a witch so much more live-changing. The girl was actually doing her very best over the whole summer to learn as much about this mysterious new world as possible.

Right now she was reading once more about a boy called Harry Potter. She stumbled upon him for the first time in the book _"Modern Magical History"_. It was not listed as one of the necessary school books for Hogwarts, but her pride simply couldn't allow herself to interact with actual people from the magical society while not knowing about the recent events that took place in their world. That was the main reason why she bought several more books when it was time to purchase all the required school stuff.

She still remembered the trip with her parents to Diagon Alley like it was yesterday. They had to exchange muggle money for galleons and sickles at Gringotts, a bank that was in fact run by real goblins. After that they bought everything on the school list from shops like "Flourish and Blotts" and "Madam Malkin´s Robes for All Occasions" as well as some additional material to get a better grasp of the magical world.

The most exciting part was obviously the purchasing of her very own wand. It was 10¾ inches long, made out of vine wood and held a dragon heartstring core. She instantly wanted to know all about that certain combination and was not disappointed. The wandmaker and shop owner Mr. Ollivander explained that vine wands belong to the less common types and seem to be strongly attracted by personalities with hidden depths. Furthermore wands with a dragon heartstring core were among the most powerful and tend to learn quicker than others. On the other hand they were pretty prone to accidents and the easiest to turn towards the Dark Arts. She would never forget how Mr. Ollivander forecasted that she had the potential to become an extraordinary witch if she manages to keep her head calm and clear during the education at Hogwarts. A goal that she wanted to archive really badly.

" _Modern Magical History"_ taught her about a reign of terror caused by a terrifying dark wizard and his followers – who called themselves Death Eaters for whatever reason – which only ended eleven years ago. It said that this self-proclaimed Dark Lord, who was somehow never called by any real name but only you-know-who, killed anyone who stood in his way and nearly took over magical Britain before he was stopped mysteriously during the attempt to wipe out the Potter family. It was confirmed that he murdered the young couple James and Lily in the night of Halloween, but was then unable to kill their baby. Since that night you-know-who was never seen again and many people believe in him being actually dead.

The baby who had in a miraculous way survived the assumed unstoppable killing curse – the lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead proved that a powerful curse had hit him in that night – was therefore hailed as the boy who lived, defeater of the darkest wizard to ever exist. And if her maths was correct, this boy would start his first year at Hogwarts together with her in one month. She was going to attend Hogwarts as a classmate of the famous Harry Potter.

At first she didn't quite grasp just how big of a deal the downfall of you-know-who actually had been for the magical society. But after she read the same story explained even more detailed in _"Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century"_ and the last third of the current book she read on her desk, labeled _"The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts"_ , was completely dedicated to the war against you-know-who it was becoming more clear to her. And it also brought up a new problem. How was she going to deal with the fact that one of her classmates was a living legend?

Would Harry Potter be a nice and handsome guy? Would he like to be friends with her? As the last heir of the Potter family most likely the whole school would try to become friends with him. Did she even had a chance as a muggle-born girl?

There was also the possibility that he would turn out to be a stuck up brat. What were the odds that the fame went to his head and turned Harry into an arrogant prick? Or worse, would he share these strange pureblood believes you-know-who and his followers had? Would he indeed think that children with muggle parents were inferior to those directly coming from magical families?

One thing was clear, her time at Hogwarts was certainly going to be really interesting and Harry Potter would most likely play a quite important role in it. With determination she closed _"The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts"_ and reached for one of the school books that she actually hadn't had memorized by heart yet. Knowledge had always been her greatest strength. She would prove not only to Harry but everyone at Hogwarts that Mr. Ollivander was right and she could become an absolutely amazing witch.

The magical world was going to remember her name – watch out for Hermione Jean Granger!

 **A/N: Thanks for reading. This is my first serious attempt of creating a fanfiction so I am grateful for every feedback that I get for this and every other chapter. Let me know if you liked my way of introducing Hermione. It was not really planned, I created it nearly out of nothing after rereading her first appearance in the Hogwarts Express where she briefly mentions these books.**


	4. Diagon Alley

**Harry Potter and the Legacy of Voldemort**

Disclaimer: I don't own the world of Harry Potter or any of these characters. I am simply a huge fan and not making any money with this writing. Should there be similarities to other fanfictions it is definitely not on purpose. With the amount of fanfics already created basically everything had been tried out at least once. Please enjoy the next chapter of my story.

 **A/N1: Thanks for all the reviews, it is a great help and motivates me to continue on.**  
 **A/N2: Warning – this chapter ends with a cliffhanger!**

 **Diagon Alley**

Harry was annoyed. Like really annoyed. He had just entered the Leaky Cauldron in companion of Professor Quirrell to make his very first shopping trip in Diagon Alley, but as soon as the first person in the pub took notice of his famous scar everyone present swarmed over him in complete awe to get a handshake from the boy who lived. He was not prepared at all for such a sudden expression of hero worship.

A not-so-small part of him wanted to simply ignore these blabbering idiots and quickly force his way through this trivial dingy pub. But he couldn´t blow his cover at the very first chance. His Dad had lectured him time and time again about deception for exactly this type of situation. It was his mission to impersonate the boy who lived so Harry had no choice but to grin and bear it. Which was not exactly easy given the totally overanxious reaction of the present wizards and witches.

"Welcome home, Mr. Potter, it is a pleasure to have you back."

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Potter. My name is Diggle, Dedalus Diggle."

"Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter, I can´t believe I am meeting you at last."

"I always wanted to shake your hand, Mr. Potter – I am getting quite dizzy."

"So proud to meet you, Mr. Potter, finally you are back where you belong."

Patiently Harry shook one hand after the other while inwardly rolling his eyes. It took him nearly ten minutes till he finally maneuvered himself through the pub. "I am s-sorry but we really need t-to go on now and buy all the s-s-stuff we actually came for" stuttered Professor Quirrell who was not really a great help.

Of course Harry knew that in reality it was just another deception his father had come up with. Nobody would suspect a pale nervous teacher who seemed to be afraid of his own shadow to be a tool used by the Dark Lord. His main job was to accompany Harry in Diagon Alley as Voldemort could obviously not show himself in public. Also the risk and amount of questions a disguise would bring up were just too high. It was way easier to put Professor Quirrell under the Imperious Curse. Furthermore Voldemort needed someone who would capture the attention of Albus Dumbledore by trying to steal the Philosophers Stone and this weak-willed fool was the perfect candidate. Killing two birds with one stone was always a nice move.

Finally reaching the small walled courtyard Professor Quirrell counted the bricks – three up and two across from the single trash can – and then tipped with his wand against the correct one to open the hidden transition. Within seconds the wall split up and formed a large archway to allow them access to Diagon Alley. Knowing what he had to do Harry immediately stepped through onto the crowded paved lane and observed his surroundings, quickly locating all the shops he would need to visit.

The first stop of course had to be at the one and only wizarding bank known as Gringotts. Money makes the world go round and Harry knew that as the last remaining Potter heir he had to be filthy rich. As it was expected from the Dark Prince, he didn't wait for any guidance from Professor Quirrell but instead took the lead himself. Ignoring all the irrelevant conversations going on around him Harry maneuvered them effortlessly through the mass of people until he stood right in front of the pure white building that towered over all the other shops.

A uniformed goblin guarded the bronze entrance gate and bowed to them as Harry passed by with Professor Quirrell in tow. Soon they were inside an enormous marble hall that was filled with countless goblins on high footstools and just as many doors leading into further rooms of the bank. The work seemed quite diverse, from examining gemstones over guiding costumers around down to simply writing numbers into account books.

Unimpressed by the ongoing racket Harry walked straight through the hall and headed for the most formidable counter that was available. The responsible goblin surveyed him narrow eyes.

"Hello, my name is Mr. Harry Potter and I want to extract some gold from my family vault."

"And does Mr. Harry Potter have the key for his vault, Sir?"

"Albus Dumbledore is in possession of my key. As I am here on my own accord, I actually don't have it with me. Does that cause any problems for you?"

"The key is not a necessity. However, you need to show me a conclusive prove of your identity before I can grant you access to the vault. So do you have a way to identify yourself without a doubt as Mr. Harry Potter? Or does that cause any problems for you?"

This goblin had guts, no doubt about that. "Is this prove enough?" replied Harry and casually roamed with one hand through his hair so that the lightning bolt shaped scar became clearly visible. He paused for a second hoping to create a dramatic effect, before swiftly pulling down his sleeve and presenting the bare skin of his lower right arm.

"Of course you can always use a blood test in case you don't believe that I am indeed the last heir of the Potter family. Come on, don't be coy, you have my permission to cut me."

After a little stare down the goblin finally took notice of Professor Quirrell and seemed to relax a bit. "I assume you are here today with Mr. Potter to buy his school supplies?" "Y-y-yes it is my job to guide H-H-Harry through his first s-s-shopping in Diagon Alley."

The goblin was weighting the odds before coming up with a decision. He actually got informed just yesterday by the half-giant Hagrid about the possibility that Harry Potter could arrive without his key during the next few days. It would also reflect quite badly onto him if he would in fact demand a blood test for an underage costumer in adult supervision simply because of a missing vault key. The whole situation just made too much sense to justify such a drastic action.

"All right, I will grant you access to the Potter vault under the condition that you only take as much gold out of there as absolutely necessary. For next time I am expecting you to have the key, Sir."

Harry nodded shortly. Another goblin called Griphook was very quickly assigned to handle their request and lead them through the complex railway system. Professor Quirrell used that time to memorize all relevant details so he could later on break into the by now empty high-security-vault 713 in a faked attempt to steal the Philosophers Stone.

Needless to say Griphook was able to open the Potter vault effortlessly. As Harry got a first glance at the available money he actually had to fight hard in order to keep his calm expression in place. The Potter family fortune was really impressive, even for his own quite high expectations the amount of gold was off the charts. He would need check on the real value in the future eventually. But for now it didn't matter. He was here for solely one reason so he took out a sufficient amount of galleons and was out of the bank not even five minutes later.

Finally in possession of some money Harry went through the school equipment list Professor Quirrell had provided for him. The first shop was _Flourish and Blotts_ to purchase all necessary books, followed by _Scribbulus Writing Instruments_ to get some parchments and quills. The required pewter cauldron in standard size 2 as well as a handy little brass scale were quickly found and bought at _Potage's Cauldron Shop_ while _Slug & Jiggers Apothecary_ subsequently provided crystal vials, protective gloves and basic potion ingredients.

Quirrell disappeared halfway through their shopping trip just as expected to execute the break-in. It was all part of the overall plan so Harry was not worried in the slightest when he exited the cauldron shop and found the Professor gone without a trace. He simply continued purchasing the supplies on his own, without a care in the world, knowing that they would meet up again later on at _Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour_ just like his Dad had instructed.

Things only got interesting for once as Harry entered _Madam Malkins Robes for All Occasions_ and met a blonde haired boy his age who was also there to obtain the proper Hogwarts clothes. His father had given him detailed information about all pureblood families with special attention on the children who would most likely accompany him in Slytherin. Therefore Harry almost immediately recognized the boy as Draco Malfoy and could not help but smile.

"Hello, you are going to Hogwarts too?" the boy tried to start a conversation as they both waited for their robes after the whole measuring was done.

"Of course" Harry replied and waited calmly to see how things would evolve.

"My Dad is actually purchasing the books while Mom is looking for an appropriate owl" the boy started to tell with a dull voice. "Afterwards I will drag them back to _Quality Quidditch Supplies_ to get me a prominent broom. I won´t accept that first-years are not allowed to have these. I guess I will just tick off my Dad until he is finally buying one for me and then I simply smuggle it in."

"You look strangely familiar" interrupted Harry smoothly. "Are you by any chance the son of the renowned Malfoy family?"

"Yes I am" the boy replied as his bored mood shifted instantly to a mixture of surprise and pride. "I am Draco Malfoy, and what was actually your name again?"

"Just call me Harry."

"Only Harry? Ok, I guess… But your family does belong to _us_ , right?"

Harry couldn't help but grin. Questioning the heritage of the Dark Prince? Ten years in the future that would most likely be a death warrant but right now it was simply hilarious.

"That goes without saying" he replied in his matter-of-fact voice. "Slytherin for life."

Draco beamed at him, finally deeming Harry worth his full attention. "I am completely against the incorporation of these others, don't you agree? Just imagine, some of them don't even know about Hogwarts until the letter arrives at their door. That is crazy! Such people obviously don't belong into the magical society. We should better stick with our own kind."

Harry was considering for a moment if he should disagree with that statement. Obviously it was correct, but it was also highly contradicting with his mission. The sooner he could adjust the strict mindset of purebloods like Draco the easier it would get for him to make friends with as many Hogwarts students as possible.

However, the decision was taken out of his hands by the arrival of Madame Malkins and the realization that their robes were finished by now. Not wanting to draw any unnecessary attention to himself Harry ended the conversation with a quick "Well then, see you at Hogwarts", paid for his clothes and left to finally get himself a well-matched wand. With pleasure he noticed out of the corner of his eyes how Draco immediately fell back into his annoyed dull attitude as soon as Harry was gone. Good to know that he had already left a meaningful impression on such a valuable future subordinate.

After a short detour to _Eeylops Owl Emporium_ – where he purchased a wonderful female snow owl that had caught his eyes and immediately named her Hewing – Harry at last entered the renowned wand shop _Ollivanders_ to hopefully get himself a perfectly matched wand.

The small room was pretty much empty except for a single chair with stork legs. Countless longish boxes were neatly piled up floor-to-ceiling against every wall. Everything seemed to be covered in dust and the gloomy atmosphere would most likely make average children feel quite unpleasant. But Harry was of course the Dark Prince. There was nothing average about him.

"Good afternoon" greeted a gentle voice. An old man with pale eyes appeared in front of him, obviously the owner Garrick Ollivander.

Harry acknowledged him with a short "Hello, Sir."

"Yes, yes, I guessed so much that you would pay me a visit soon enough, Mr. Potter. You really have the eyes of your mother. I remember like it was just yesterday that Lily came here to buy her first wand. Willow, 10 ¼ inches, very nice for charm work." Mr. Ollivander slowly advanced towards him. "Your father wanted a Mahogany wand instead. 11 inches, pliable and excellent for transfiguration. What am I saying? Of course it is the wand who chooses the right wizard in the end."

Mr. Ollivander was now close enough so he could touch the famous scar with one of his long white fingers. "And here… I have to admit that I sold that particular wand myself. 13 ½ inches, Yew and phoenix feather, extremely powerful. Well, I couldn't know at that time what the wand would actually cause…"

"Some people would classify it as a great innovation and expansion of the magical boundaries" Harry interrupted with a small smile. Mr. Ollivander looked at him curiously. "True, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things, without a doubt, terrible things indeed, but also great things."

Harry grinned. It was nice to hear a person actually acknowledging the outstanding magic his father had performed. "Time to get myself my own wand so that I can start doing even greater things" he announced happily and lifted his right arm to indicate that he was right-handed.

"All right, so let us see here" muttered Mr. Ollivander and started measuring Harry all over the place. Additionally he started to explain basics that the Dark Prince already knew for a long time. "Every wand holds a potent magical core. I am using unicorn hairs, dragon heartstrings and phoenix feathers. Each wand is unique in its own and searches for a perfect match. You may be able to produce magic through every wand, but superb results can only be archived via a strong spiritual kinship between wand and wizard."

Satisfied with the measurements Mr. Ollivander darted through the shelves and picked out some promising combinations. "Let us begin with this one. Ash and unicorn hair, 8 ¾ inches, nice and flexible. Just try it out." Harry grabbed the wand but felt nothing. The experienced wand maker also realized that immediately and quickly exchanged it with another one.

"Beech wood and phoenix feather, 7 inches, quite whippy." No reaction at all.

"Cypress and dragon heartstring, 11 ½ inches, bendy." Again nothing.

"Apple wood and unicorn hair, 9 inches, reasonably springy." Next one, please.

Harry soon lost count of how many wands he actually tried out, it felt like Mr. Ollivander was going through his entire stock. Sometimes he touched one that felt familiar to the Ebony wand he was using during practice but it was by far not the matchup he had hoped for. Good thing that Mr. Ollivander seemed to think in the same way.

"Difficult choice we have here… Let's see… A really strange combination, but why not?" He handed Harry the next interesting wand. "Holly and phoenix feather, 11 inches, nice and supple."

This was the right one. Without any doubt. Harry felt the warmth in his fingers like never before. He gave the wand a small swing and effortlessly caused a shower of green sparks to erupt from the tip, causing Mr. Ollivander to applaud enthusiastic before he started muttering to himself.

As Harry payed the required seven galleons he actually caught the low "So weird, unexpected…" whispering. "Weird? Is anything wrong about my wand?" he inquired carefully.

"I remember every wand I ever sold, Mr. Potter, every single one of them. You see, very rarely several wand cores are made from the same source, turning the resulting wands into twins. It is really remarkable that you are chosen by this particular wand, as a feather of the same phoenix is also residing in the one responsible for your scar."

Mr. Ollivander was not sure how Harry would react to this sensible information, but even he was caught off guard as a blissful smile suddenly spread across the face of the young boy. But it only lasted for a split second and the old shop owner guessed that it had most likely been just his imagination.

Little did he know about the great fireworks which were exploding left and right in the mind of his costumer. His wand was connected to his father's one. They were twins – incredible! Now that was a wand worthy of the Dark Prince. He couldn't wait to tell his Dad about it. Noticing that his mask might have slipped for a moment Harry quickly left the shop before Mr. Ollivander would start to ask unpleasant questions.

Checking his mental list all that was left for him to do now was writing a notification letter to Dumbledore while waiting for Professor Quirrell to return from his attempted break-in. With a smile Harry set down at _Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour_ and pulled out some parchment and a quill. He was in bliss, today couldn't have turned out any better.

Twenty minutes and three sundaes later the young boy tied the finished letter onto Hedwig's right leg. "I am sorry but right now there is no chance that can bring you back home with me. So please be a good girl and stay at Hogwarts after you delivered this letter to Dumbledore" he told his new owl while looking deeply into her eyes. Hedwig hooted sadly but spread her wings regardless, ready to follow her first instructions. "I am proud of you. Take care, see you as soon as possible after my arrival at Hogwarts." With that Harry sent his white owl off to her very first delivery.

"Excuse me" said a sudden voice behind him. "Are you by any chance the famous Harry Potter?" Great, just what he needed now, another fanatic boy-who-lived-fan like the ones from the Leaky Cauldron.

"Who wants to know that?" Harry replied a bit irritated as he turned around to face the newcomer, only to find a tall man in a green wizarding robe staring down at him. He had short pitch-black hair and piercing blue eyes. Harry couldn't explain why but he immediately felt uncomfortable.

His first guess was proven right only a second later as the man spoke again. "You can call me Tom, I work for the ministry of magic and would like to ask you a few questions, there were some strange rumors surrounding your name lately."

Harry rolled his eyes inwardly. Like he would ever agree to something like that. His instincts were never wrong, something was fishy here. Wanting to get away from that wizard as soon as possible, Harry came up with a nice excuse to stop this conversation before it could really begin. "Rumors are just that, rumors. I am sorry but your timing is really inconvenient, I have an important meeting at Gringotts very soon. Maybe we can talk on another day."

He tried to stand up but somehow couldn't move a muscle. That bastard didn't just paralyze him with a nonverbal spell, did he? And of course all the people passing by were too busy with themselves to take notice of his sudden predicament. This was not supposed to happen – ever!

"I am sorry Mr. Potter but I cannot accept your rejection" Tom whispered coldly. "This matter involves the inner security of magical Britain. I need answers and you will provide me with them. One way or another." His left hand grabbed Harry roughly on the upper arm while the other hand swiftly went into his pocket. "Let us talk somewhere more private, ok?" Harry was suddenly overcome by the strange feeling that a hook behind his navel was trying to pull him away. Damn it, that man even had a portkey!

And as Diagon Alley disappeared before his eyes, new feelings started to flood through his body. For the very first time the Dark Prince experienced something similar to desperation. For the very first time he experienced something close to actual fear!

 **A/N: Thanks for reading. I am grateful for every feedback that I get for this and every other chapter. I wish there would be a clear layout of Diagon Alley, but the shop locations varied too much in the different maps I found so I kept it vague. This is also my first attempt at a cliffhanger so I hope it was exciting for you. I am already working on the next chapter so that you won´t have to wait too long for the conclusion.**


	5. The Interrogation

**Harry Potter and the Legacy of Voldemort**

Disclaimer: I don't own the world of Harry Potter or any of these characters. I am simply a huge fan and not making any money with this writing. Should there be similarities to other fanfictions it is definitely not on purpose. With the amount of fanfics already created basically everything had been tried out at least once. Please enjoy the next chapter of my story.

 **A/N: Life can sometimes be very exciting but also very troublesome. I have moved halfway across the globe to study abroad for the very first time and was therefore really busy the last couple of weeks. Hopefully some of you can understand that. I am truly sorry that you had to wait for so long till the conclusion of the cliffhanger but now that everything has finally settled down my writing can continue on. Thank you all for your patience.**

 **The Interrogation**

Harry had lost track of time. Tied to a chair in the middle of a plain empty room without his wand there was nothing he could do but to wait till his kidnapper showed his face again. The boy who lived knew what was going on, this Auror wanted to test his patience, he wanted him to lose his calmness so that it would be easier to get whatever it was he wanted from Harry. But that would not happen any time soon. The Dark Prince would not show any weakness. There was no way.

Without warning the single door behind him finally opened and someone stepped through it. "Harry Potter, we have brought you here because there is a high probability that you hold vital information regarding the safety of our magical world. Cooperate with us and you have nothing to fear. Refuse and you will have to deal with the consequences."

Harry remained still. Very slowly the person walked around the chair and into his view, revealing himself to be the same Auror who abducted him in Diagon Alley. "We are aware of the fact that the public story about you being raised under the protection of Albus Dumbledore is fake. After having investigated your disappearance for quite a while we discovered that you were kidnapped by You-Know-Who who apparently isn't as dead as we thought he was. In order to confirm our suspicions we had no other choice but to speak with you directly. That is the whole reason why you are here right now."

"Tom was your name, right? I have to say this is an interesting story you got there" Harry replied in his most innocent voice. "But I was really raised in secret under the Fidelius Charm. Just ask Albus Dumbledore if you do not believe me. This whole Kidnapped-by-the-Dark-Lord rumor is complete nonsense. You were actually fooled by whoever told you these crazy ideas. Can I go now? I only have one month left to prepare for Hogwarts. Also Dumbledore will be very annoyed if he finds out you dared to kidnap me right away on my first trip to Diagon Alley."

The Auror stared at him for a while in silence, analyzing the response carefully. "You are a very clever boy. But these rumors are just too dangerous to leave them be. For the countries sake we have to assume them as true until we can prove they were wrong. Therefore you have to tell us all about your upbringing and I can only hope that there is not a single contradiction to the version we have created from our research so far."

"This is ridiculous. You know that there are specific reasons why I was raised in secret. I cannot simply tell you everything. Professor Dumbledore has to personally allow me to reveal certain pieces of information. As he is not here this entire conversation is absolutely pointless."

"So you admit that you are indeed hiding information from us on purpose? That makes things even more suspicious." shot the Auror back immediately, hoping for Harry to slip up, but the boy didn't do him said favour. "I am neither admitting nor denying anything. Are you even allowed to interrogate children? This all seems like a bad dream. Could you pinch me so that I can wake up?"

"Enough of this!" Tom was really annoyed by now about how Harry managed to avoid any clear answer. It was time to step things up. "We have confirmation from a reliant source that you spent all these missing years at You-Know-Who´s hideout. In case this statement is true you hold crucial information for the national safety and security. I am demanding that you reveal your entire knowledge about this matter right now or I have no other choice but to force it out of your brain."

"I have no idea what you are talking about" Harry answered swiftly. His voice didn't betray any of his current emotions. How did he end up in such a situation? This Auror was clearly bluffing, there was no way anyone could have been able to acquire information about him being raised by Voldemort. Nonetheless he had to be careful with his words, he would definitely not fall for the obvious traps and threats this man was using against him. "You-Know-Who is gone. Everyone knows that. Can I go now? This is just so ridiculous. You have no right to interrogate me like that. Wait until Dumbledore hears of this."

"That is where you are wrong, brat" replied Tom as he slowly got angrier. "Information about You-Know-Who has top priority in my department. You are obviously hiding several secrets regarding your upbringing, so I am pretty sure that this little brain of yours contains very important news for us. In order to ensure the safety of our country I will get this knowledge out of you, one way or another. So don't make this more difficult than it has to be, ok?"

"This is all a huge misunderstanding. Let me go now and I swear I won´t send a complaint to the ministry." Harry tried to sound confident but at the same time started to get nervous internally. It looked like he couldn't talk his way out of this, that man appeared more than ready to use lethal force to get what he wanted.

"Last chance, little brat" the Auror whispered as his right hand went to his wand. "Tell me all you know about You-Know-Who and his hideout. Now!" Harry tried one last desperate attempt. "You are clearly breaking the law here. This is so ridiculous. Stop this nonsense before the consequences you have to face get too drastic."

Tom just smiled viciously. "Wrong answer" he hissed and raised his wand so that it pointed directly between Harry´s eyes. "Let´s see what we really got here. _Legilimens!_ "

Harry could feel the mental attack onto his memories but was more than ready for it. His father had trained him intensely in Occlumency since he turned seven years old so that he would be prepared exactly for this kind of situation. Clearing his mind in an instant Harry defended himself rather easily against the external penetration, something that the Auror obviously did not expect judging on his now very annoyed expression.

"So you indeed know Occlumency. Very impressive feat for a little boy such as yourself. But for how long will you be able to keep it up? I have all day to get inside your head."

Harry was not intimidated in the slightest. He had enough experience and willpower to keep his mental shields up for hours and it would only be a matter of time before his Dad would show up for his rescue. That Auror really seemed to have no idea who he was dealing with right now. Nobody abducts the Dark Prince and gets away with it.

For the next few minutes Tom tried his best to penetrate Harrys mind over and over again without the slightest bit of success. The young boy simply kept his mind blank and enjoyed seeing the growing frustration in the eyes of his kidnapper. There was no way in hell this guy would get any information out of him.

"Enough!" Tom finally snapped. "You really don't understand how bloody important your knowledge is for the national safety! I cannot let you continue with this child's play!" He took a deep breath to regain his composure. "I really do not want to do this, but you are giving me no other choice. Drastic situations require drastic measures. As we currently don't have Veritaserum available I will have to break your resistance with help of the Cruciatus Curse."

Harrys face fell immediately. "No way! That Curse is unforgivable! Try it and I make sure you end up in Azcaban forever!" For the first time there was real panic in his voice. He read enough about that particular curse to know that you never want to receive it yourself. It was extremely cruel and could drive people insane.

The Auror just shrugged his shoulders. "Your choice. Talk and everything will be fine. Otherwise I have to use every option available to get the necessary information out of your small brain." Harry narrowed his eyes. Under no circumstances would he ever betray his father. This had to be a bluff, nothing more. Slowly his confident smile creeped his way back onto his face. "What a silly bluff. As is you would dare casting the Cruciatus upon an innocent child."

"You are a pretty insolent little brat" shot Tom back and raised his wand again. "I am going to enjoy this way more than I probably should. _Crucio!_ "

Harry screamed, loader than he had ever before. Thousands of white-hot knives were piercing every inch on his skin, his bones were on fire and his head ready to burst into a million pieces. It was an all-consuming pain beyond anything he ever experienced, his only thought was for it to end, he just wanted to black out, even wanted to die to escape this crazy madness.

As instantly as it appeared the pain was suddenly gone. Without being given any time to recover Harry immediately felt the next Legilimency attack incoming. Purely on instinct he was able to throw up his mental shields just in time to stop Tom from penetrating his mind. The Dark Prince would not go down without a fight.

"It has been quite a while since I had to deal with someone as stubborn as you, Harry" the Auror hissed annoyed as he finally accepted that Harrys will was still too strong. "I will give you a short break, after all I cannot risk driving you insane. Please reconsider the option of cooperation, it would save both of us lots of time and trouble. Otherwise we have to continue this interrogation until you give in. It is your decision alone."

With that Tom turned around and marched out the door, leaving behind a heavily panting Harry Potter who slowly started to realize the true depth of his current predicament.

0 – 0 – 0

Albus Dumbledore was practically dancing through his office. The old wizard could not remember the last time he felt such kind of relief. He expected many things as this beautiful white owl arrived at Hogwarts with a letter addressed directly to him. But he was certainly thrown off guard by the delivered news which opened him a whole new range of opportunities.

Harry Potter was all right. That was already very good to know. But the letter also confirmed that he would attend Hogwarts. Which was absolutely glorious. His hope was nearly all gone that the boy who lived would somehow appear at his school to give Dumbledore a chance to mold him into the chosen one of the prophecy. But thanks to the important information contained in said letter he was given a new chance.

To make sure he really remembered every last detail the Headmaster picked up the meaningful piece of paper and read it one more time very carefully.

 _Dear Professor Albus Dumbledore,_

 _I am pretty sure that you are really worried these days because there was actually one Hogwarts letter that could not be delivered to a certain young wizard, more specifically the boy who lived._

 _It is really a shame that such a promising child disappeared from right under your nose all these years ago. How do you think the wizarding world will react when the truth comes out about their hero not showing up to his first year at Hogwarts? Not a pretty thought, is it?_

 _You are probably wondering how I could possible found out about all these facts even though you tried the very best to keep it top secret. The answer to that is actually very simple, but I really don't want to take away the surprise so soon._

 _The reason I am writing this message is to calm you down. There is no need to worry anymore.  
I have first-hand information that our savior Harry Potter will attend Hogwarts regardless of the missing letter. While I can´t tell you any details, I can reassure you that the boy who lived grew up just fine and will be indeed on board of the Hogwarts Express in one month._

 _In fact I used his very own owl to send this letter to you. Isn´t she beautiful? Harry actually named her Hedwig. Fitting, don't you think so? As you can guess he bought the owl during his trip to Diagon Alley so don't worry, our young savior has everything he needs for the start of his school year._

 _Additionally I shall inform you that Harry is actually aware of the cover story you set up after his disappearance. He will play along for now, so you don't have to worry about that topic either._

 _In exchange for all this information I want you to take care of the owl Hedwig until Harry arrives at Hogwarts. For reasons that I am sure you can figure out for yourself the boy is currently not able to introduce her to his actual home. Harry is expecting Hedwig to be in perfect shape when he will meet her again, so please don't disappoint him._

 _Prepare yourself to meet Harry at Hogwarts in a month. Unless a certain Dark Lord claims the Philosophers Stone and manages to get his revenge on the boy beforehand. But what are the chances of that really happening?_

 _Greetings from a well-informed ally_

… … …

 _Just kidding! Of course I am the boy who lived himself!  
Who else did you expect? Who else would know all this details?  
I am pretty sure you didn't see that twist coming, right?_

 _So please take good care of my owl Hedwig till my arrival!_

 _Greetings, Harry Potter_

Obviously the letter did not answer all his questions. Dumbledore still had no idea who actually took Harry away from his relatives or where the boy had been living for the last decade. He also had no idea how Harry was raised and what the boy currently believes in. This made it difficult to come up with an appropriate plan to gain his trust very quickly. But Dumbledore had no worries about that. In the long run Harry would without a doubt play the role that he had designed for the boy.

He made a mental note to call the Weasley Family as soon as possible. Their youngest son Ron was starting Hogwarts together with Harry and the quicker the two boys become best friends the easier Dumbledore could gain more control over the boy who lived. After all the Weasleys were blindly trusting his decisions and therefore offered the Headmaster the opportunity to influence Harrys views indirectly through the family of redheads. Needless to say that both boys would end up in the same house – namely Gryffindor – so that a proper friendship could grow between them. This arrangement was also very important in order to keep Harry away from Draco Malfoy who without a doubt was instructed by his father to pull the boy who lived onto their side.

Additionally Ginny Weasley, while being a year younger than the boys, was already obsessed with the boy who lived and would probably make an excellent girlfriend for Harry in the future. All it needed to work out was pushing the right buttons at the right time and this was one of the tasks Albus Dumbledore could do like no other.

Taking care of the beautiful owl for a month was a very easy task and would ensure that he was in Harrys good grades right from the start. And then the boy who lived would spend the next seven years as student of Hogwarts under his wing, provided the Headmaster with more than enough time to undo any unwanted repercussions of Harrys upbringing and mold him exactly into the wizard he was supposed to be.

After all these insecure years Albus Dumbledore was finally back into the game. Now he could make all the necessary arrangements to lead Harry Potter down the correct paths. For the greater good.

0 – 0 – 0

Harry had not only lost track of time by now. He basically had lost track of everything. The only thing that mattered to him in this moment was ignoring the pain and keeping his mind shut off. And even that task was easier said than done.

" _Legilimens!"_

Another furious assault rained down against his metal defences but even though it was extremely difficult he somehow managed to withstand it once again. Things were not looking good. He was at his limits, totally exhausted. If his father didn't show up soon, Harry knew that it was over. There was only so much torture he could take before his mind would give in.

"I am very impressed that you still have enough willpower to resist me" Tom said with a wicked smile on his face. "But I can see your inner struggle. You cannot keep this up forever. Sooner or later you will run out of energy."

"Same goes for you" spat Harry back with his last bits of strength. "I can see your frustration. What kind of pathetic Auror are you anyway? Not even able to gather information from a small innocent child." His words seemed to hit the core. Anger flashed through Toms eyes as his wand whipped through the air.

"You dare?! Arrogant brat! _Crucio!_ "

The intense, all-consuming pain flooded through Harry once again, setting his body on fire and surely splitting his head apart. He was screaming desperately, wishing that he could just black out, even wanted to die just to end this malicious curse. His willpower was fading away more and more, he was on the brick of going insane and there was nothing he could do against it.

After what felt like an eternity to the young boy, the curse was finally cancelled and he slumped back into the chair, gasping heavily for the much needed air. He was still alive and apparently sane, but that were the only good news. His mental strength was used up completely by now and Harry knew it. The Dark Prince had fought back for as long as he could, but in the end his mind had reached its breaking point.

"This is your own fault, Harry" Tom lectured him as he slowly moved closer. "I gave you enough chances to give me the information willingly. But as it turns out you are just a stubborn little boy who doesn't know his place. Hopefully you learned your lesson for the future."

Harry tried his best to ignore the sadistic Auror and kept his eyes facing towards the ground, imagining how his father would blast the door behind him apart to rescue his son right in the most critical moment. Tom looked down on him, wearing a cruel smile once again, clearly amused by the whole situation.

"It seems a part of you is still hoping that someone will somehow come for your aid. Maybe you are thinking that You-Know-Who himself will rush into this room any second in order to rescue you. I am sorry but this is not going to happen. And you know why?"

The Auror bent down so he could whisper the next sentence directly into Harry's ear. "The reason why You-Know-Who will never come through this door is…"

Silence. The pausing was mentally killing him. Then all of a sudden a new voice entered his ear. A very familiar voice. And this voice completed the sentence with the very last thing Harry was expected to hear.

"…because I am already here, my dear son."

Harrys heart skipped a beat. His eyes widened in utter shock and confusion. Painfully slowly the man took a step back so that the boy could see him again. It was no trick. The Auror Tom suddenly had a totally different appearance. Blood red eyes, long white fingers, pale skin, snake-like slits as a nose…

"DAD!"

Without any thought Harry threw himself against his father, the tears he was holding in for so long instantly started to stream down his face. He was so overflown by emotion that he didn't even realized that the bonds around his wrists were long gone as they would have stopped him from reaching the Dark Lord otherwise. Nothing else mattered to him right now other than the embrace of his Dad.

"You are safe, Harry, you were always safe" Voldemort explained calmly as he returned the hug in an attempt to comfort his son. "I cannot tell you how proud I am of you. I was taking quite the risk testing you willpower like that but it paid off greatly. You passed with flying colours."

"I passed…?" whispered Harry weakly, barely able to stand due to the immense pain his mind and body were put through. For a second he was lost, not understanding what his father meant by these words. Then very slowly the gears in his head started to turn and Harry came to realize just what exactly had actually happened to him.

"Why? Just why?" The shocking truth sent even more tears down his face. Incomprehension and anger flared up in him and he even tried to punch the Dark Lord but lacked the strength to do in his current state.

So everything had been one big set up right from the start. There never was an auror Tom in the first place. Voldemort had simply used Polyjuice potion to create a fake interrogation. Harry had actually been kidnapped and tortured by his own father.

"It was necessary" answered the Dark Lord in a whisper. "Dumbledore along with many other people will try to manipulate you once you set the first step inside Hogwarts. I needed prove that you are able to handle their underhanded actions accordingly. I needed prove that there is no way Dumbledore can get any unwanted information out of you. As I said before this was a test and you passed it brilliantly. After all I am the best Legilimens in the world. If you can resist me, you can resist anyone."

With that being said Voldemort slowly and carefully guided his son out of the room. It was only now that Harry realized that he was never kidnapped in the first place. He was at home the whole time, he had just been placed inside one of Voldemorts private research room that he had not been allowed to enter till now. That explained why the place felt so foreign to him.

"Now you are definitely ready for Hogwarts, so let us get you some well-deserved rest" his father announced proudly and before Harry realized it he was lifted up and levitated through the hideout to his own room. Not wanting to display anymore weakness Harry demanded that he would walk the last steps towards the bed on his own, even thought his body felt like it would collapse at any moment. He barely managed to reach it with his last bits of willpower only to fall instantly asleep as soon as his back touched the blanket. Today his limits had been tested like never before and that took its price.

As the Dark Lord stood in the doorway and watched his physically as well as mentally totally exhausted son drop onto the bed like he was struck down by a killing curse a sudden pain filled up his chest.

Wait! What? Pain? Impossible!

Never had the feared Lord Voldemort felt any kind of remorse after torturing or killing people. Even punishing his most loyal Death Eathers back in the day had filled him up with power and excitement instead of this strange feeling he experienced right now – a feeling that any normal person would classify as regret.

What was going on? Did the years he spent raising Harry actually affected him more than he allowed himself to admit? Were there suddenly other emotions inside him besides the limitless thirst for power and domination?

Voldemort could not understand what was happening to him right now. Or maybe he could but was too afraid of the truth. He was the Dark Lord. He was not allowed to have any emotional attachment. This was a weakness of fools like Dumbledore and the Potters, not of the mighty Lord Voldemort. These feelings in his chest didn't exist, they couldn't exist. There was no way.

Without taking another glance at his son the Dark Lord quickly turned around and closed the door behind him just like he simultaneously closed his heart to shut down these weird feelings before they got out of hand.

He had done what he had to do. Today was a success. There was nothing to regret. Nothing.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading. I am grateful for every feedback that I get for this and every other chapter. Can you see the reason why I named that random Auror Tom? Hopefully now that I am settled down in the new country (check the A/N at the beginning if you haven't) I can post more regularly again. I really want to continue as I have so much plans and ideas for this fanfiction.**

 **Spoiler:** **In the next chapter the Dark Prince will finally meet the muggle-born bookworm!**


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